


Bloody feet across hollow ground

by NateTheWolf



Series: Personal Guard Dog Series [2]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, F/F, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Implied/Referenced Torture, Minor Character Death, Non-Consensual Touching, Non-Graphic Violence, Original Character Death(s), Puppy!Clara, Were!Clara, Werewolf AU, cutesy moments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:33:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22824127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NateTheWolf/pseuds/NateTheWolf
Summary: Sequel to My Own Personal Guard Dog, my Modern Werewolf Clara fic.Clara had adjusted well to living with Amy, having her own room, being human. Well, until one night. One awful night where everything changed.
Relationships: Clara Oswin Oswald/Amy Pond
Series: Personal Guard Dog Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557211
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24





	1. It can't be

**Author's Note:**

> Just to say Chapter 8 is the one with the non-consensual mention and stuff. There's hints at stuff but not explicitly detailed or said, but if anyone doesn't like that kind of stuff but likes the story of this then you can skip Chapter 8 since the aftermath/recovery of it is in the next chapter.

It had been five months since Clara had officially moved in. She had gotten used to Amy’s friends, acting human, and eating more than once a day. There were still times she’d shut Amy out and sleep or not sleep at all. Unfortunately, her usual nightmares started to creep up again.

_ Blood. Death. Howling. Pain. Missy. _

The usual, when she was stressed anyway. It seemed this night she was stressed for some unknown reason.

Clara jumped awake, her eyes flashed gold as she bolted upright. Looking around, she realised she was still in her bedroom. Still in a house, not the pack. Still home. She looked up at the ceiling, seeing the glow in the dark stars that they had bought for her. They weren’t the same as sleeping under the actual stars like she was used to, but she admired Amy for suggesting and buying them for her.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the hallway.

“A-Amy?” she asked cautiously, panic rising in her chest as every  worst-case scenario popped in her head.

“Oh!” she heard before the tall red-head peered her head through the door. She smiled at her. “You’re here... Great, but who’s downstairs...”

“Downstairs?”

“Don’t you hear,” she paused when scratching and whimpering was heard from the front door. “That. Isn’t that why you’re up too?”

“Oh uh, y-yeah... Wait, who is that?” Clara asked herself before climbing out of bed and following Amy down to the door. Thinking it could be anyone, or a simple stray, Clara cautiously opened the door. “Riley?”

“What are you doing here?” Amy asked as she knelt down to pet him, but all he did was back away and motion towards the street. She looked over him to see Mrs. Finch house. The door was open, and there was a trail of a dark substance leading from her house to Riley.

“Blood,” Clara muttered once she noticed the paw prints, despite it still being rather dark out. “T-That’s blood...”

“What?”

“I-I can smell it-”

Before she could finish her sentence, Amy bolted off to her neighbours’ house, Riley and Clara following close behind. It seemed her worry for Mrs. Finch had made her not feel any physical pain from her bare feet on the path and road. It didn’t bother Clara, seeing as she was used to being barefoot on any sort of ground.

When they got to the house the door was wide open. Amy ran through it immediately, following the trail of bloody paw prints throughout the house. Clara, however, stopped just outside the door, suddenly feeling apprehensive about entering. Feeling cold. Feeling watched. She heard rustling in the bushes, but blamed it on the wind quickly when she heard her friend gasp loudly from inside. Concerned, she rushed straight in . Once she got in, she saw her friend in the living room, standing in the middle of it. The room reeked of blood and Clara almost gagged on the stench as she cautiously walked towards the human.

“D-Don’t look,” she held her arm out in a futile attempt to keep the brunette away. She was too late.

“It’s okay,” Clara gulped as she saw the scene before her. “I-I’m used to it.”

“I-I’m not,” Amy said just above a whisper as she turned around, hand over her mouth as she tried to stop herself from throwing up, tears streaming down her face.

“A-Amy,” she turned quickly to her side, gently holding her. “I’m sorry I-”

“How...”

Riley whimpered, nudging Clara’s leg. She looked down at him sympathetically and stroked behind his ear. “B-Breaking and entering?”

Amy shook her head frantically, catching a glance at Finch's bloodied body. “S-She’s by the phone...”

“She must’ve tried to c-call someone,” Clara muttered, looking down at the body. There were cuts all up one arm, fresh and deep, and her throat was slit, blood still oozed out of her. This was a very recent kill. The phone was just above her shoulder. She must have reached for it before tumbling  over to the floor. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the dark liquid smudged along her shoulder, the fabric of her nightgown ripped.

“Y-Your eyes are gold,” Amy interrupted her analysis, staring at her.

“Oh?” she mumbled, her breathing slowly increasing the closer she got to the corpse.

“D-Don’t touch-”

“I’m not,” she assured. Her hands were shaking too much to touch her anyway.

“W-What are you doing then?” Amy asked, stepping towards her.

“S-Shoulder,” she looked down her arm, realising too late that there was a reason it looked familiar. “N-No...”

“What’s wrong?” her friend gently held onto her when she noticed her trembling. “Clara?”

“No, it c-can't be-”

“Can’t be-”

Sirens went off. They were getting louder by the second. Clara’s eyes were still gold and she was still panicking, which lead to Amy panicking. She held onto her friend and tried to calm her, but the high pitch noise only made it worse. Only made her more alert yet distressed as she tried to make herself look human. Tried not to spiral. If not for her safety, then for Amy’s piece of mind. This was not the situation to freak out and get caught.

Two police officers and one medic ran in, stopping once they saw the two girls standing over the bloodied body.

“Who are you?”


	2. Tear your skin apart

“ Oh,” the medic gasped and rushed to the corpse .

Amy stepped away from the person and held on tight to Clara, who still looked away from the new arrivals. The male police officer looked around with a torch,  whereas the female one stepped towards them, accidentally shining the torch in her face. Clara squinted, covering her eyes from the woman.

“Oh sorry,” she apologized as she moved the light away from her. Luckily, it gave her time to make her eyes go back to her natural brown colour. “What are you two doing here?”

“R-Riley, the dog,” Amy pointed at the collie. “Came to my house so we came over. We're close to Mrs. Finch-”

“If it wasn’t for the knife she has in her hand,”  the male officer said as he pointed his torch to the object. “I would suspect you two did this.”

They stared at the officer, wide eyed, unsure of how to respond. The silence dawned on him and he looked up at them.

“Sorry,” he muttered, looking back at the body.

“There seems to be a bite mark on the shoulder,” the medic said as he eyed the dog, who merely whined as he stared the body.

“R-Riley could have dragged her to the phone?” Amy suggested. They all looked at her. “W-What?”

“That’s a good  theory ,” the woman  shrugged and walked up to the two girls. She smiled at them and held her hand out. “ Officer Brookes.  Mind if we talk at your place while my partner sorts this out?”

“Um, y-yeah,” Amy shook her hand. She spared a glance at the body as Clara held onto her and guided her out of the house. When they got outside, she got blinded by the sirens for a second, and noticed another police car coming up the street. The noise startled Clara, and Amy pulled her closer as they walked to the house.

The questions went by faster than they had expected once introductions and a bit of background was done. Amy mentioned that Riley had scratched at her door before when Mrs. Finch shattered her ankle, so it was common that he came by tonight, and so the officer would believe her. It was the truth, but given the circumstances she had to be careful. They had to be careful with Clara too. Amy re-worded how she knew it was blood, and stuck to their previous story of how the brunette had moved in with her.

It was around 4am when the police left. Amy suggested for them to keep Riley until Mrs. Finch’s granddaughter could pick him up. She had only met her twice but knew she always loved her grandmother’s dogs. Surprisingly, they let them keep him.

“A-Are they going to contact her granddaughter?” Clara asked when they sat down on the sofa, Riley sitting between them.

“Most likely,” Amy shrugged, idly stoking  Riley’s head that was on her lap. “I don’t know how to get in contact with her.”

The brunette nodded slowly, looking at the now switched on TV. She was unsure of what to say. The image of Mrs. Finch still engrained in her head. The cuts. The bitemark. She gripped onto her shoulder, suddenly feeling the need to scratch at it until it disappeared. Her nails dug in, most likely to leave a mark.

“What’s wrong?”

She jumped and turned to her friend. “Huh?”

“What’s wrong?” she repeated softly.

“N-Nothing-”

“Then why are your eyes gold and why are you gripping onto your shoulder?” she raised a brow. Clara looked down at her arm crossed over her, nails digging into her shoulder. Slowly, she moved it down. “You only do that when you’re anxious about something pack related, or something’s triggered a memory.”

“Observant,” Clara muttered.

“I try,” Amy grinned, clearly trying to elevate the tension. It somewhat worked. “If you don’t want to talk about it it’s okay. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself, despite your advanced healing abilities.”

Clara blinked a few times, glancing at her friend for confirmation her eyes had gone back to normal. She gave a nod. “I...”

“You really don’t have to-”

“I do,” she sighed. “I... I think M-Missy's back...”

Amy froze for a moment. “How do y- the bitemark on the shoulder?”

“It’s identical to  mine,” Clara nodded. “A-And the cuts with that k-knife...”

“Oh... W-Well that-”

“I’m s-sorry,” she muttered as she stood up and headed out the door. “I’ve got to-”

Amy grabbed her by the wrist, keeping her in place. “Clara please, stay.”

She weighed out her options. No matter how much she wanted to be alone right now she didn’t want to disobey Amy. After all, she was beginning to know how she worked by now. Something terrible happens, she would become closed off, not talk, probably sleep until late the next day. Probably hurt herself. Granted, that was rare.

“Please,” she tried again when nothing happened. Just Clara staring down at her feet with her hand stretched out and held by Amy. Sighing, the brunette walked back and sat down next to Riley. Amy sighed in relief and let go of her wrist. “Thank you. Again, you don’t have to-”

“She was a nice woman,” Clara interrupted, avoiding eye contact, focusing on the TV.

“Uh, yeah, she was,” Amy nodded, a catch in her throat.

It fell silent after that. The only sound was the TV playing a police sitcom Amy had put it on. They didn’t talk, both in a world of their own. There was nothing else to say, at least, not at that moment. Clara didn’t feel like talking about her worries, she didn’t want to trouble Amy even more than she already had.

After a while, they all fell asleep.

* * *

_ “You’re just their pet.” _

Clara yelped and bolted up and off the sofa, breathing erratically as she ran out to the back garden. She knew her eyes were gold and her fangs were showing. She was so close to turning. So close to snapping. Her hands dug into the grass she had collapsed on once she had gotten outside.

“C-Clara?”

“S-Stay back!” she growled.

Despite her warning, the red-head crouched down beside her. She looked stunned, but also determined to help. “Deep breathes okay?”

It took a while, and a lot of effort, but she managed to take a few deep, somewhat relaxing, breathes. She looked at Amy, who offered her a kind smile. The more she focused, she noticed how tired she looked. She probably hadn’t slept much. The cool breeze pulled her out of that thought, and somehow made her look around and up at the sky, noticing it was just the break of dawn. She focused on how pretty the colours looked blended together. An arm gingerly placed on her shoulder caught her off-guard, but once she realised it was just Amy trying to provide comfort, she eased into it, slowly leaning into her. Being close to her was nice. It was distracting.

“H-How come we don’t come out here more often?” Clara asked as she looked around, finally calming down. “It’s a n-nice garden...”

“Thanks! Look after it myself,” she laughed. “We should chill here though, when it’s warmer. Could have a picnic or something.”

“Picnic?”

“Yeah... Don’t you know what that is?”

“N-No?” she looked at her, head tilted.

“Blanket, food, outdoorsy,” she waved her hands and then shrugged. “Usually a family or friends thing. We can do it though, if you want?”

“Sure,” she grinned. “Um... W-We can go in now... It’s getting cold...”

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Amy laughed slightly as she stood up, offering her hand to her friend. She gratefully took it and dusted herself off, noticing mud stains on her pyjama bottoms. “ Wanna stay up? We don’t have long until Martha’s coming over.”

“She’s coming over?”

“Yeah,” she nodded as she led her back inside. “Last minute thing.”

Clara nodded in understanding. “Kitchen then?”

“Kitchen.”


	3. Are you okay?

“Hey, just me,” Martha called out as she walked in, closing the door behind her.

“Kitchen!” Amy called back. She was glad they had managed to calm down and get changed from their mud-stained clothing in time for her friend to come over. It would have been hard to explain.

“Sorry to hear about Audrey,” she said sadly as she sat down. Amy merely nodded, whereas Clara shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Once it was clear nobody was going to speak Martha decided to speak up. “How’re you holding up?”

“Better than Riley,” her friend pointed to the dog lying down under the table, clearly not himself as he didn’t stand up when Martha entered. “He’s not playing at all.”

“Poor boy,” she muttered, pushing herself back up to rest her hands on the table. Amy noticed Clara wasn’t saying anything, or moving, just staring down at nothing in particular, her elbows propped on the table, hands locked together as she leaned on them. It seemed Martha noticed it too with how she looked at Amy and jerked her head towards her. Amy merely shrugged, showing she didn’t know either. With a roll of the eyes at her friend’s lack of a helpful response, Martha gently spoke up. “Clara? Are you okay?”

Clara’s head snapped up, staring almost blankly at the human. Distant. Her eyes were shining gold, clearly startled. “Huh?”

“Are you okay?” she repeated calmly.

“Oh, y-yeah,” she nodded, lowering her arms to fold on the table. “Why do you ask?”

“Your eyes are gold for one,” Amy piped up, sipping at her drink.

“Oh,” Clara blinked a few times until her eye colour was back to normal. “Better?”

“Yup,” Martha grinned. “Not just that though. What’s wrong? You looked in deep thought over something.”

“I’m fine,” she smiled slightly.

“I get things are... Not good at the moment, but you can’t just  blatantly lie if you’re worried about something Clara. Talking helps, okay-”

“Psychiatrist as well as a doctor of medicine now?” she bit back, startled by the low growl in her throat. Everyone was. She gulped, shrinking back in the chair. “S-Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Martha said with a small sigh. “I’m sorry for trying to push you, it’s just... I heard about last night-”

“I know, you mentioned it when you walked in,” the brunette huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, clearly resorting back to being closed off.

“Not that, about what happened with you Clara.”

Clara froze. It took her a few seconds for it all to register in her mind what that meant, even though it was fairly obvious, and once it had she looked up at Amy, as if she had been the one to say it. Of course, she knew why she looked at her. For her assumption to be confirmed, for her to be prepared to experience some sort of betrayal from the human. All it took was a guilty expression on her face for Clara to look hurt. Betrayed. Before Amy could explain why she told  Martha , express her concerns, apologise for telling her friend about what she clearly wanted to stay with them. To stay with herself. She shrugged, leaning back in her chair and looked away from both humans.

“It was just a nightmare,” she claimed, yet her hand twitched. Itching to dig at her mark like she usually would in a situation like this. Feeling cornered. A helpless pup trapped between a bigger threat. Whether that was a human or not didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she wanted to run. She shook her head slightly, as if that would help ease this uneasy feeling of being caught. It was stupid for her to be so defensive about a nightmare, knowing the humans were only trying to help, in their own  pitiful way. It didn’t help though, it only made things worse. Remembering and talking only made things worse.

“Clara,” Amy said quietly, calmly, as she slowly reached out for her hand. A hand that was now clawing at her arm. The realisation threw her into a panic state, now realising that she wasn’t aware of her actions. Despite knowing Amy meant well by her action, and was cautious about it, Clara still jumped back, standing up. 

Movement helped, she noticed. It helped her feel less caged in. However, in her bout of panic, she failed to remember that there was a dog under the table, and that there was a yelp once she stood up. She looked at the source, seeing it was Riley, figuring he must have moved closer to her as her emotions got the better of her, and that his tail now had a chair leg on it.

“Oh!” she gasped out as she quickly moved the chair away. “S-Sorry Riley.”

He merely whimpered and curled up under the table. She looked up at the humans to see Martha checking on the dog, but Amy was staring at her, worry evident in her features. The expression was all she needed to make her mind up. Make her realise what she needed at that moment.

She ran upstairs.

Amy went to follow, but Martha held her arm out. “Leave her for a bit yeah?”

“But-”

“Amy,” Martha tried again, this time  sterner . “She needs some time alone.”

“You don’t know her like I do,” Amy muttered as she slumped down on her chair, quickly checking on Riley in the process.

“I may not be a psychiatrist, but I do think she’d benefit from some sort of therapy,” her friend said matter-of-factly. “There was something about how she was just then that... Well a trained specialist could help with.”

“You say that like she’s crazy,” she pointed out, glaring at her.

“Not saying that at all-”

“Besides, she closes herself off when she gets like that. And of course, she can’t mention the pack with a therapist,” Amy sighed. “At least with us we know. We can’t know what she’s going through, but even getting her to talk about how she’s feeling or how to help when she gets in states like this would be helpful... With all that’s gone on I’m not surprised she’s resorting back to being snippy, short tempered and shutting herself away. I mean, can you blame her? With all she’s been through? She probably got reprimanded just by breathing at the wrong time.”

Martha didn’t reply, she merely looked over Amy, a small smirk on her lips. It was obvious she had thought of something.

“What?” she asked warily. “What did I say that’s so funny?”

“You seem pretty good at that,” Martha remarked. “Maybe you could get her to open up? You seemed to have a good  effect on her in the past, and helped her through her panic attack.”

“I’m not  psychoanalysing her-”

“Who said anything about that?”

“Martha no,” she frowned. “I’ve already betrayed her trust by telling and getting you over here about last night. I can’t go up there asking questions.”

“Not now silly,” Martha rolled her eyes. “Just when you can. Despite the betrayal, which by the way is not enough for her to hate you so stop worrying about that, she trusts you. She’ll stick by you unless you say  otherwise . She’s... loyal to you.”

Amy looked down at her glass, contemplating what her friend had just said. After a while she sighed, ducking her head in defeat before looking back at Martha. “I’m worried about her... I care about her. I can’t just st-”

“When she wasn’t eating, did you just let her eat a few grapes a day or did you try to – however softly – get her to eat to get used to eating normally?”

“I did yell at her a bit...”

“Tough love, sometimes it works-”

“Not in this case,” Amy groaned. “Fine. I’ll talk to her, explain things. Maybe try to get her to open up but if I do don’t get me to talk about it.”

“’Course I won’t,” she grinned, happy her plan had succeeded. “Confidentiality and all-”

“Oh, shut up,” Amy laughed at her attempt at acting ridiculously professional at this time.

“Seriously though Ames,” Martha nudged her. “How are you doing? I mean, you knew Audrey a lot longer than any of us.”

“I’m doing okay,” she nodded slightly, looking away from her friend. “It’s... It’s odd having Riley here without her... Not that I don’t like him here it’s just weird. Usually he’s playing with Echo and I’m talking to Audrey about anything really,” she huffed out a small giggle as she reminisced. “One time we literally talked about the weather just so we could have company, seeing as we had  run out of what to talk about. Luckily, weather was always changing so, it wasn’t that hard.”

“Sounds nice,” Martha smiled up at her empathetically. “Do you know what’s happening with Riley?”

“Her granddaughter Jane is picking him up tomorrow,” she sighed, glancing down at where the dog had been lying down most of the day. She put her head in her hands. “Let’s hope we get some sleep tonight.”

She didn’t even notice that she got choked up until she felt Martha’s arms gently wrap around her for comfort. It had been a long, stressful night. All it took was some quiet for her thoughts to break through for her to break. For her to feel the sadness she had been pushing down. The weight of the situation to hit. Being held by one of her best friend’s was enough for her to realise just how emotional she was, and that she was in fact weeping. Her hands over her face acting as some sort of emotional barrier between her and the outside world.

They just sat there for as long as they needed. For as long as Amy needed. 


	4. I'm here for you

“Clara?” 

She shifted in her bed, hoping to fool the human that she was asleep. It didn’t work. Amy slowly let herself in and sat on the bed, looking over her. 

“I know you’re not asleep,” she said quietly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. 

“How’d you know?” Clara asked tiredly and turned to sit up. 

“You snore in your sleep,” Amy chuckled. 

“I do not!” she protested, yet knew she was blushing at the thought of the human hearing her. There had been times where they had fallen asleep together, so no wonder she knew of that fact or how she slept by now. “W-What are you doing here anyway?” 

“You haven’t come down, I got worried.” 

“It’s only been two hours-” 

“Eight hours ago,” Amy corrected. Clara’s eyes widened as she finally turned to face her. “Yeah, it’s ten at night. You’ve missed dinner too. Then again, so have I, thinking about ordering in. What do you think about that?” 

Clara was quiet for a moment, chewing her lip as she thought. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but it wasn’t like Amy was going to let her not eat the whole day. It wasn’t like she was going to sleep again either. Shrugging, she nodded. 

“What takeaway are you thinking?” 

“Honestly, didn’t think I’d get this far,” Amy grinned sheepishly. “But! There’s the chip shop...” 

She trailed off; her eyes unfocused as she stared at the floor. Before Clara could say anything, she shook her head. 

“Nah, don’t feel like chips. What about pizza?” 

“Um, sure,” she nodded, trying not to show her concern for her friend going silent. “Was food the only reason you came up here? Or did you want to talk about something?” 

Amy shifted, clearly unsure of how voice her thoughts. “I uh, just wanted to check in. See how you are after what we did... I’m sorry if we overstepped-” 

“No, you didn’t,” Clara assured, feeling guilty that she made them feel bad about caring for her wellbeing. “I’m sorry I lashed out, I... I guess I’m not used to people being like that...” 

“Caring?” her friend looked stunned. “What about Vastra and Jenny?” 

“They...” She shifted, unsure of how to word it. “We do care for each other but, whenever I’d go quiet, they’d leave me alone or get told to ignore me by Missy. It’s weird when you lot try to get me to talk, I’m not used to expressing how I feel...” 

“That makes sense,” Amy nodded in understanding. “If you want you can try with me, any time. I don’t mind.” 

“Like my own therapist?” she giggled. 

“If you like,” she grinned, leaning back on the bed slightly. “Seriously though, I’m here if you need someone to talk to.” 

Clara stopped laughing and looked at her, tears in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak. To say how grateful she was for how kind Amy was, for what she had done for her, for how she has been treated even though there was no need to befriend her in the first place. Unfortunately, no sound came out. When she saw her friend’s concerned expression, and worry that she had said something wrong once again, she merely leaped forward and hugged her. It clearly took her by surprise but eventually Amy hugged back, not really knowing what to say. They sat there for a while just holding each other while Clara sobbed into her shoulder, trying to calm herself down, if not then to at least show Amy how much she means to her by showing her vulnerability. Amy didn’t say anything, she merely hushed her and stroked her back to help soothe her. It worked for the most part. 

“We uh, we better get that pizza huh?” Clara asked as she pulled away, wiping at her eyes. 

“Oh, yeah,” Amy nodded as she jumped off the bed, holding her hand out to the brunette. “What pizza do you like?” 

“Meat feast?” she guessed as they practically ran downstairs. “Wait, are we going out or phoning like you usually do?” 

“Either,” her friend shrugged. “Personally, I prefer phoning. Too cold to go out.” 

“Phoning it is then,” Clara nodded, letting go of her hand and fetching the phone. She paused once she grabbed it, only now realising she had never phoned anyone before, and wouldn’t know how to order food. Turning around to see Amy behind her, looking at her a bit confused, she handed it to her. “Not sure why I did that...” 

“If you want to phone you ca-” 

“No, no,” she shook her head. “I wouldn’t know the first thing to say.” 

“Okay,” Amy shrugged and dialled the number that she had apparently already written down on her notepad. “Yes, hello. Yeah, this is Amy,” she sounded confused as she spoke, glancing up at her friend with a weirded-out look, before realisation hit. “Oh! Davey hey! Didn’t know you worked there.” 

“Davey?” 

She held onto the speaking end of the phone, “Friend from school, drifted apart when he transferred. You want meat feast, anything else?” 

“Um, no, that’s it,” Clara smiled slightly. She still found it odd that Amy always paid for her food, despite it being a normal thing now. 

“Yeah, I’m alright. Pretty hungry though, could we get the order done? I’ll get Matt to get your contac- Yeah, still friends with him. He’s been alright, travelling a lot, you know how he is. Yup. Yeah, okay, so two meat feast pizzas, one portion of small chips and one litre Pepsi. Haha, nah, just the two of us, haven’t eaten most of the day. Hmm? Oh, yeah, I kinda have a roommate now,” she glanced at Clara, smiling at her as if she needed to specify it was indeed her she was suddenly talking about. “Yeah, we- no, we are not. We’ll all catch up soon, yeah? Just got a lot going on. Yup, that’s all. Cheers Davey.” 

“What did Davey say?” 

“Huh? Oh, thought my sudden roommate was some guy I was,” she paused, putting her phone in the holder. “Thought I was in a relationship with you basically, but you’re a guy not a werewolf girl of the street.” 

“Oh,” she stepped away from her. “I guess it’s understandable-” 

“Wait,” Amy turned to her, worry evident in her features once again. “Sorry, was that... You seem a bit startled by that, did I-” 

“Oh, no, no,” Clara assured, shaking her head. “I mean, a bit of both... Him assuming your roommate was a boyfriend rather than a girl, but also you pointing out me being a wolf reminded me of this whole situation... So uh, I dunno just-” 

“Sorry,” she sighed, clearly frustrated with herself. “If you want, I cannot bring up the fact you’re a werewolf? Just, like relatively nor-” 

“It’s kinda impossible with how I act,” she laughed, albeit quite nervously. “Just uh, make sure it doesn’t slip with strangers?” 

“Oh, yeah of course,” Amy nodded, cautiously taking a step towards her, gently holding onto her shoulders as if the next thing she said needed to be confirmed. “I’d never tell anyone, you do know that, right?” 

“Yeah, yeah I know,” the brunette nodded. She looked down at her feet for a second before making eye contact with her once more. “It’s just... Always in the back of my head y’know?” 

“I get that,” Amy sighed, letting go of her. Riley nudged her leg with his head, seemingly picking up on the unspoken tension between them. “Oh, almost forgot.” 

“Forgot what?” Clara asked when the human knelt down and fussed the dog. 

“Jane’s coming to pick him up tomorrow, forgot to tell you... And him. We can still probably see him, just not as much as usual. Once or twice a month maybe?” 

As she spoke Amy got quieter and quieter, clearly trying not to get too emotional about a dog that wasn’t even hers. Her jaw clenched as she batted away tears, looking at anywhere but Clara. 

“Oh... So-” 

“So after food we better get some sleep,” she announced with a clap of her hands as she stood up. “Or try at least.” 

Clara looked over her friend. It was clear she was still distraught about her neighbour’s passing, and that she wouldn’t be able to see Riley nearly as much as she usually would. It was clear she was trying to be strong for Clara, especially after seeing how panicked she was that night. She couldn’t blame her; it was what Clara was trying to do in a way. In their own way trying to seem strong when in reality their worlds have crashed down in front of them. Audrey Finch was practically family to Amy, even more than her actual family it seemed, so of course her untimely demise would affect her so much, even more if Missy was the cause of it. She didn’t deserve that. None of them did. 

Slowly, Clara stepped forward and held onto her still clasped together hands, cupping them with hers. “Amy,” she said softly as she looked up at her. “You can talk to me about anything too.” 

* * *

They had spent the rest of that night on the sofa, eating their takeaway and watching movies, until they had eventually fallen asleep. When Clara awoke, the first thing she noticed was she was leaning on Amy, the second, they had fallen asleep on the sofa. The third thing was Riley, he wasn’t in the living room anymore, and there was a faint knocking sound coming from the front door. Tiredly, she got up to answer the door, half expecting it to be Matt trying to get them into another adventure in the car. When she got to the door, she saw a blurred blonde head on the other side through the window, and Riley wagging his tail at the door. Her first thought was Rose, yet as to why she was here was a mystery. Rose usually didn’t have time to unscheduled visits. However, it didn’t click until a second too late who it logically could be. 

“Oh hey,” the blonde grinned at her. “Sorry, did I wake you? Oh! Hey Riles!” 

As she knelt down to the dog jumping up her, it made sense. Jane. Mrs. Finch’s granddaughter. When Jane looked up at her expectantly, she realised she hadn’t introduced herself, or spoken at all. 

“Oh sorry," she clumsily stuck her hand out. “Hey I’m Clara, Amy’s new housemate. Sorry, still waking up, we didn’t sleep well last night. Please, come in, i-if you want?” 

Yup, it was clear Clara was still rather antisocial with humans. She mentally slapped herself when Jane didn’t respond. Thankfully, she was saved when Amy finally woke up and came to the door. 

“Clara? Who- Oh! Jane hey,” she grinned up at her. 

“Hey Amy, long time no see,” she smiled up at her, now standing up from greeting Riley. “Am I early?” 

“No actually, we slept in,” she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Do you want tea or anything? I can collect Riley’s things.” 

“Yeah sure,” Jane giggled when Riley barked and ran around her legs before going back into the house. Amy followed Riley whereas Clara stood to the side, staring at the blonde in the rather odd clothes. Unfortunately, she noticed. “Oh, sorry, Clara was it?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded slightly. 

“Hey I’m Dr. Jane Smith, but just call me Jane or Jay,” she grinned as she shook her hand. 

“Jay,” Clara whispered, confused since she had never heard her be referred by that name. Although, something else in her title caught her attention. “I’m sorry, you’re a doctor?” 

“Yup,” her smile faltered. “Are you okay? Your pulse has risen-” 

“Oh, uh y-yeah,” she quickly let go, wiping her hand on her jeans. “Just um... B-Bad experience with medical doctors...” 

Jane jumped back, “Oh, sorry. Well uh, if it helps it’s also because I’ve got a PhD, not just a medical doctor.” 

“PhD?” Clara tilted her head. “What’s that?” 

“For me a degree in astrophysics... You don’t know what astrophysics is do you?” 

Before she could shake her head, Amy popped in between them. “Basically Clara, she’s not that kind of doctor, not like Martha or worst. Okay?” 

“Or wors-” 

Amy dragged Clara inside before Jane could question it further, especially out in the open. “So Jane, do you want to sit in the living room, I’ll come back with tea and Riley’s things.” 

Jane followed Clara into the living room and sat down next to her. “She’s trying to keep herself busy, isn’t she?” 

“I guess so,” she muttered, shifting to get comfortable. 

“How many sugars?” the human in question shouted from the kitchen. 

“Five please!” the blonde called back. 

“Five?” Clara asked, stunned by the amount of sugar she had in tea. 

“Yeah?” 

“Didn’t know that was an option,” she merely turned away to stare at the TV, only now realising they had left it on all night and now it was on some show about werewolves. Strangely enough, ones that seemed similar to her kind, rather than the anthropomorphic Lycan stereotype humans seemed to have on them, these were actual people turning into wolves with golden eyes. However, these teens seemed to have black veins when they would turn, Clara didn’t have that. 

“So Clara,” Jane said after a while, most likely to break the rather awkward silence that had fallen between them. Although, she sounded off compared to her greeting. She sat there, idly stroking Riley as he rested his head on her lap. Perhaps he felt it too. The need to comfort the woman. It was like, if not exactly the same as when she bolted a hugged Matt when he spoke about his brother, however, Clara did not know Jane nearly as much as she knew Matt back then. Even she knew it would be weird to randomly hug a person you just met. 

Despite the feeling of it being wrong, and not something any human would do, it didn’t stop the unexpected noise that came from Clara as she fought against the urge. 

“I’m sorry, what was that?” the blonde almost laughed, snapping her head at the shocked brunette. 

“What was what?” she asked slowly, hoping feigning cluelessness would make her think she was just hearing things. No luck. 

“You made a... Well a dog type noise,” she sat cross legged and leaned towards her, curiosity sparked. “Why is that?” 

“I-I uh,” Clara whimpered again, which only made the blonde gasp and ask how she did it since it sounded so life like. “I um, I just do...” 

“Why just then?” 

It took all of her will not to panic enough for her eyes to glow gold at that moment. Somehow, she hadn’t yet. One look at the blonde and she knew she was not the type of woman to let things go. 

“Um,” she looked away for a moment. “I just... I’m sorry, it’s weird-” 

“I bet it’s not,” Jane leaned back, giving the brunette some much needed space. “Besides, I like weird.” 

“I uh,” Clara shifted. “I felt like you needed a hug... And I-I thought it’d be weird thing to do since we don’t know each other and-” 

“And the urge to hug me clashed with the anxiety of actually doing it, so you made a frustrated noise that happens to sound like a canine.” 

“E-Exactly...” 

“It’s okay,” she grinned. “I get sudden urges like that, and it really is a sweet gesture, given the circumstance of us meeting. But I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, even if you do make adorable... Canine, shall we say? Sounds. Besides, you’re probably too tired to control it, given I woke you up.” 

“Um, I uh-” 

“Also, your eyes are gold,” she glanced at her, stroking Riley once she had gotten comfortable. Clara, startled, blinked a few times as she made a whining noise. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” 

Before Clara could try to come up with an explanation as to why she seemed like a werewolf, Amy came in with a tray of tea in one hand and a small cardboard box full of toys, collars, and other dog necessities. She slowly placed them on the table. 

“Thought a bit of sugar could wake us up, so Jane you have four like asked, and we have three... Didn’t know whether you’d want four,” she giggled a little before giving each mug out to the two, taking her seat on the single chair closest to Clara. 

“Thanks!” Jane grinned as she took a sip. 

Clara looked at her warily as she quickly smiled up at Amy as she took her cup, waiting a bit for it to cool down. Unfortunately, despite also just being woken up, the human could sense the tension radiating off her friend. 

“Did I miss something?” 


	5. Pitchforks and Torches

“And she said she wasn’t going to tell anyone?” 

Jane had left an hour ago and now they were getting ready to meet up with Mels in town, something that Amy was thinking of doing before they fell asleep. It turned out Mels was free after all and up to meet today. They both agreed, needing a distraction after all, other than the fact that Jane had easily figured out that Clara was a werewolf, something Amy only got told after she left. 

“Yeah, said secrets safe with me,” Clara shrugged. “I mean, she didn’t say anything to you so...” 

“Well, we’ll know why people are here with pitchforks and torches in the next few days,” Amy laughed slightly. 

“Pitchforks and torches?” she tilted her head. “Why...?” 

“It’s a joke, don’t worry,” she said as she slowly closed the distance between them, smiling at her when she noticed the worried look on her friend’s face. “I won’t let anything like that happen to you, I swear.” 

“Thanks,” Clara nervously mumbled, smiling sheepishly at her. “If it w-was just a joke then hopefully you won’t have to... er...” 

“It’s cool, I get where you’re going,” Amy laughed. “Anyway, we should get going. Don’t want to keep Mels waiting, do we?” 

“No, we do not.” 

They got ready and rushed out to meet with Mels, already running a few minutes late. When they got there, they realised that Mels wasn’t alone. 

“Didn’t know you were showing up too,” Amy mentioned when they noticed their presence. 

“You don’t mind me tagging along right?” Rose asked, seeming genuinely concerned that they were not told about her accompanying them in this semi-spontaneous shopping trip. 

“No, not at all,” she grinned. “Just thought you’d have work like usual.” 

“Nah, have the day off.” 

“Evidently,” Clara muttered, yet it caught the attention from the group. She blushed slightly at their gaze. “Sorry.” 

“It’s cool, but I do have to leave in an hour,” she said as she checked her phone. “Meeting David.” 

“Second date?” Mels teased as she nudged her. 

“Stop it,” Rose pushed her off her, knowing what she was getting at when she wolf whistled. 

“So shopping?” Amy asked, seeing that Clara was left out of the loop of Rose’s dating life. 

“Yes, shopping,” Mels clasped her hands together. 

Shopping with them wasn’t as taxing as Amy had feared, especially when Clara had yawned multiple times before even meeting them. Surprisingly, she was doing well with engaging in discussion with them when Amy would go to try on some jeans or a coat, or go off to buy a scarf she had her eye on the past few months. She was always worried Clara would feel left out with not knowing much about modern ways, pop culture, and expressions – evident by her head tilt whenever Rose would laugh at something Mels said. Despite her obvious struggles and clear anxiety of being around loud cars or people, Clara pushed through and actually enjoyed herself. She even felt comfortable enough not to stick to Amy all the time, sometimes talking to Mels or Rose. 

However, now with Rose gone and Mels talking about her latest ‘conquest’ as she would put it, Amy noticed Clara lag behind a little and yawn more. She guessed her social abilities would end fairly soon, and getting tired herself despite the lie in, she was going to offer to cut the day out a bit short. 

“Hey Clara, what do you think- What’s wrong?” Amy asked when she turned around, concerned when she saw the brunette now turned herself, staring behind her, and a man staring back. A rather rugged, dishevelled man who stared at her wide eyed before shaking his head and walking off. 

“He’s... Like me.” 

“A werewolf?” Mels asked in hush tones as she came to stand beside her. 

She nodded; her eyes clearly transfixed on the scruffy man now walking away from them hurriedly. “An exiled one at that.” 

“Oh.” 

“Amy?” a familiar voice drew their attention away from the wolves and to a ginger haired woman with an elderly man. 

“Donna?” she questioned, looking between them, a bright smile on her face. “Hey, how have you two been?” 

“We’re alright,” she shrugged. “Taking my old man to his playdate with Graham.” 

“You’re not taking me, we’re all hanging out,” Wilfred defended as he shrugged his arm away from her. “You like talking to Grace too.” 

Amy laughed at how they talked to each other, despite the quips on each other a lot they were always almost inseparable when they could hang out together. “And how are you Wilf?” 

“I’m okay love,” he grinned up at her. “Can you send me more antlers this year?” 

“Will do,” she laughed when Donna’s mouth opened in shock. 

“You brought him those antlers? We had to pry both of them off him!” 

“It was Christmas!” 

“To be fair one of them was for you,” Amy laughed. “Still, loved seeing those pictures with the two of them on.” 

“Oh, Ames, I gotta go, emergency at work,” Mels said as she put her phone in her pocket. “Nice to see you Donna, Wilf. Bye Clara.” 

They all waved as she walked off, phone back in her hand when it buzzed. 

“Back with her fella agai-” 

“Clara?” Donna interrupted her grandad to ask, Mel’s goodbye’s finally registering. 

“Oh!” Amy twirled around and grabbed Clara by the arm to drag her forward. “Donna, Wilfred, this is Clara, my new roommate. Long story, I’ll tell you about it when we all have time-” 

“We have time,” Wilfred said, smiling at Clara as he extended his hand to shake. “Nice to meet you Clara.” 

It took a second but Clara nervously smiled at him and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too sir.” 

“Wilfred’s fine dear-” 

“Hate to break this up, but we're going to be late,” Donna said as she looked at the clock on her mobile. “Sorry. It was nice seeing you Amy, and meeting you Clara.” 

“Y-Yeah,” the brunette muttered as she nodded stiffly, unsure of what else to do. 

They said their goodbyes and something clicked in the scot’s head. “Clara?” 

“Yeah?” 

“You don’t have a mobile, do you?” 

“Oh, uh, no, I don’t-” 

“Why didn’t you remind me?” Amy mock chastised as she grabbed her arm, dragging her into the nearest shop. Turned out it was Tesco. Amy looked around the phones and gestured to the ones she wasn’t looking at. “Pick any one that takes ya fancy.” 

“Are you sure?” Clara asked, looking around the corner of the shop where a few mobiles were on stands, and two chairs by the desks where one of the workers sat. As soon as he looked up she looked away and back at her friend, leaning over to her. “You’ve already done so much.” 

“It’s a phone Clara,” she stated, as if reminding her of the object was explanation itself as to how important one was. “You need one. What if we get separated? I don’t have super senses like you.” 

“But... Well I-” 

“If you’re that worried about money then pick a cheap one.” 

“You should get this one,” a tall brunet grinned as he pointed to the galaxy S7, making both the girls jump at his sudden appearance. “Good graphics, pixels, data, and you can get it capped. I guess you haven’t heard much of this tech, so I can teach you. Could show you the ropes as it were, since I have the same phone, so I know about how it works-” 

Clara rolled her eyes at the man’s rambling about how good at technology he was, but tilted her head at him slightly. “Then why are you here?” 

She heard Amy fail to hold in a laugh behind her, whereas the guy looked affronted. He looked away from her for a second before shrugging. “Looking for an upgrade?” 

“Then I wouldn’t have the same one as you,” she stated, clearly very confused by his thought process. 

“You would, that’s the upgrade,” he smirked at her as he pointed at it. “Buddy of mine has it, seems good.” 

“You don’t have it yet, and you can’t say much on it if you’re saying it seems ‘good’, so how wo-” 

“Oh, for pete’s sake, I was trying to introduce myself to you,” he groaned. “You’re cute and-” 

“Who’s Pete?” 

The man looked over her, clearly looking for any signs that she wasn’t joking. When she crossed her chest, expecting an answer, he knew she was serious and just scratched at his stubble before throwing his hands in the air out of frustration. “You can’t be serious?!” 

When Clara stepped back it was Amy’s turn to intervene. “Okay bud, she’s not interested. She also doesn’t really understand some expressions, so don’t take it personally.” 

“You could have just said,” he grumbled as he walked away, not wasting another second talking to them. 

“Uh, thanks for that,” Clara said quietly, her arms still crossed over her slightly in defence. The guy raising his hands and voice at her had startled her and kicked in some of her instincts. 

“He clearly wasn’t getting the hint,” Amy chuckled, but stopped when she saw her friend’s stance. Her face softened, “you okay?” 

“Oh uh, yeah, yeah,” she finally put her arms down, unaware they were up in the first place. “So, phones?” 

“Yeah,” the redhead nodded slowly, watching her duck her head down to examine each of the cheaper mobiles on display. She knew she got startled but it wasn’t clear as to how much, or what thoughts were going on through her head. Whatever it was got her worried. Shaking herself out of her own troubled thoughts for the brunette, she followed suit in search for a mobile. 

It didn’t take long to find one that ticked all their boxes. The Motorola E5play was big enough so Clara wouldn’t forget it or lose it, it was rather cheap like she insisted on, had enough space for any apps or pictures she wanted to take, and enough messages and phone call time for each month for emergencies or to make any plans with Matt that Amy couldn’t be a part of. 

Matt and Clara had gotten closer since the reveal of her being in the same pack as his step-brother, and they often talked about how John was when Matt was free. Despite already hearing about how kind he was to Matt when he was younger, Amy still had mixed feelings for him since their first meeting was him almost drowning an injured Clara and dragging them from her home. Even Clara said he had his good points when Missy wasn’t around and how those moments were rather similar to how Matt had described him. 

On their way home Amy started talking about how Matt was up for having a picnic whenever, and that he wanted to do one in the woods. Clara agreed excitedly, but got rather quiet when they got closer to the house, and didn’t even seem like she was listening when the got to the door. 

“We can always have one tomorrow for our ca-” 

“Shh.” 

There was a rustling noise in the bushes. Before they could question it, a figure jumped out, reaching out for Clara. Suddenly, she lifted her arm up, stepping up to the threat with a low growl, only to have two hands grip onto her and golden eyes staring into her own. The man from before, although this time he looked dishevelled. He growled slightly, glaring at her more intently when her eyes shown gold to match his. 

“You’re lucky she knows,” Clara growled. 

The wolf glanced between them, loosening his grip on her arm. “I just want to know what pack you’re from.” 

“Why hide?” Amy asked warily, not taking her eyes off him. 

“I... I didn’t know if this was your actual home,” he shifted, now looking rather guilty. “I caught your scent but... Y’never know, y’know?” 

“Yeah,” Clara nodded, moving her arm down once she realised he was no actual threat. “Restam pack. Why do you want to know?” 

“You looked familiar,” the man sniffed at her, a small canine noise coming from the pack of his throat. “Smell it too.” 

“How long have you been exiled?” she raised a brow, looking over his dishevelled state. “From which pack?” 

“Lockwood pack,” he straightened up. “Few months.” 

“On your own?” Amy asked softly, almost pitying him. 

“Somewhat,” he shrugged, finally looking at the human in the eye. “Met a stray dog for a bit, but she died.” 

“Why did you get exil-” 

A man whistling caught their attention. He merely walked by, hands shoved in his coat pockets as he bopped his head and whistled. The two girls stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, however, the male wolf started to growl. Clara grabbed him by the arm successfully making him stop and turn to her. 

“We better get inside,” she muttered to Amy, who nodded and turned the key in the door before opening it. They ushered him inside and into the kitchen. He merely looked around the room, as if he were lost. 

“You’ve been in a house yeah?” Amy asked as she sat down, gesturing for him to do the same. 

“No, I haven’t,” he said quietly as he clumsily followed suit. “Born in the pack, grew up in the pack.” 

“So, you’re a pureblood,” Clara stated as she sat down, concern yet shock evident in her tone. She turned to her friend to clarify. “Born as a wolf... More like a reverse werewolf I guess, and have a harder time subduing their wolf side when in human form. A-At least I roughly remembered some things from a human house, he doesn’t know anything, probably wasn’t taught much.” 

“I wasn’t no,” he nodded, tapping his foot nervously on the floor. “So, you’re human,” he pointed to Amy. 

“That’s correct,” she nodded, smiling slightly. 

“And you two coexist? Peacefully?” 

“As peaceful as it can get when there’s a wolf jumping about every month,” Amy laughed, hoping to lighten the situation. It didn’t work. “I’m sorry, we never caught your name.” 

“Didn’t throw it,” he tilted his head at her, confusion evident in his features. “It’s Jason though.” 

“Nice to meet you Jason, I’m Amy,” she held her hand out, only for him to stare at it. “Never done a handshake then?” 

“No...” 

“Why were you kicked out Jason?” Clara chimed in, clearly a little agitated by this newcomer. “Why did you ask about my pack?” 

“Oh,” he straightened up. “I disagreed with the alpha... And bit him during a fight. Lost it so I got exiled.” 

“What disagreement leads to a fight?” Amy questioned. 

Jason shifted, his eyes flicking to the window and back at the human. “I disagreed with his commands, finding his way of work... Unethical.” 

“What’s unethical for a wolf pack?” 

He looked at Clara, almost apologetically before moving his gaze to the table. He seemed unsure of how to speak every time Amy asked him a question, unsure of how to move. “Apparently nothing in the Alpha’s eyes...” 

“How do you know me?” Clara asked, leaning forward slightly. 

“Not personally,” he quickly defended, holding his hands out like they would attack him if he said different. “I remember seeing you when my Alpha visited your pack. He uh, wanted you but your alpha disagree-” 

“Wait, what?” the two girls said in sync. 

He flinched. “You were so well behaved for your Alpha he wanted someone like you working for him, and since we never turned humans... Well, not at first, we didn’t have many females, so some of us would take some or... Try to bargain with others to get some from larger packs, or if we found any lone wolves or exiled-” 

“This isn’t some elaborate way to get me into your pack is it?” Clara asked, now sounding worried. 

“No, no,” Jason assured. “Trust me, I am exiled, like you. I’m just saying that’s how I know you. He was rather insistent and tried to grab you-” 

“I remember,” she said slowly as realisation dawned. “I-I was only in the pack for a month. Missy ordered me around and looked so angry that he was even looking at me. He grabbed my arm but Missy and John pulled me away from him. He was your Alpha?” 

“Mikael, yes,” he nodded slowly, still looking apologetic to the brunette. “You were really obedient and... Mouldable, in his words. I hated that he actually went for you but ignored your Alpha when she tried to send off someone else.” 

“Missy was concerned that he would steal me,” Clara mentioned, the realisation of the seriousness of that situation finally hitting her. “Made me stay with her for months.” 

“On the plus side he’s not after you now, right?” Amy put a hand on her friend’s shoulder for comfort and looked at Jason for confirmation. 

“No, he’s not,” he assured. “I’m sorry for bringing back unwanted memories. I only wanted to make sure it was you, otherwise it would have wracked my mind for eternity.” 

“I get that,” Clara smiled up at her friend, grateful for the comfort before turning to the other wolf. “Is that all?” 

“Yeah, that was,” Jason trailed off as he looked around the room, sniffing the air. “Hmm, that’s odd,” he continued smelling the air as he leaned over the table towards Amy. “Oh, the weird smell is you.” 

“Weird smell?” Amy asked, looking between the two wolves. “I’ve had a shower today, how can I - do I smell weird?” 

“You smell lovely,” Clara assured her. “Not being used to a house I guess he doesn’t understand how you can smell the same.” 

“Oh, yes, my apologies,” he smiled sheepishly as he sat back down. “I didn’t mean to offend, or say you smelt bad. Just odd that it’s like your house.” 

Shortly after Jason left, claiming he had a place to stay for the night and to prepare for tomorrow. They bid him farewell and locked the door, just in case any unwelcomed wolves decided to visit. As Amy put dinner in for them Clara went to the living room to pick a movie, it was her turn to pick after all. It took a few minutes to pick since she had missed out on so much, and opted for The Lion King, from what Amy could tell from the music she heard from the kitchen. 

“Thank you for the phone,” Clara smiled up at her when she entered the room. “Still unsure of how to use it. I don’t know how to add contacts or change the background...” 

“Give it here,” Amy laughed as she flopped back onto the sofa. “Who do you want in your contacts?” 

“You,” she said immediately. 

“Well, that’s a given,” she giggled as she added her number into the phone. “Anyone else? Martha for medical stuff? Matt, you’ve talked to him a lot recently-” 

“Is that a bad thing?” Clara tilted her head, concern evident in her features. 

“No, no,” she assured. “It’s good, I want you to get along with my friends.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure,” she grinned. “It’s not like I could stop you from befriending peop-” 

“But if you don’t want me to be friends with Matt I won’t,” Clara said before she could stop the words from coming out. She seemed as shocked as her friend in front of her. 

“Clara,” Amy started softly, slowly reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. “Surely you don’t think that way.” 

“I... I think I do,” she sighed, looking defeated. “I’m sorry, I just... I-I'd do anything for you. I mean, you saved me Amy, how could I just defy anything you say when you... You did that.” 

“I’m not your alpha Clara,” Amy felt the need to say after a deafening stretch of silence between them. You could hear a pin drop. She felt sorry that Clara was programmed to feel that way. “You need to know you can go against what I say, especially if I do or say anything that makes you uncomfortable or hurt or-” 

“You’d never hurt me,” Clara interrupted. “Not intentionally anyway.” 

“That’s true,” she sighed. “But Clara, as touched as I am that you think that way, I don’t want you to blindly follow what I say okay? Especially when it comes to things like friendship. I don’t want to control you. You’re your own person okay? Just... Remember that, please.” 

“Y-Yeah,” she nodded before sighing and ducking her head down. “Yeah, I understand. Sorry, I just... I think that was the wolf part talkin-” 

“You’re loyal without being part wolf,” Amy gently kissed her on the forehead, not missing the slight tinge of pink on the brunette’s cheeks when she did so, and the bashful smile that followed. “You’re you okay? Remember that.” 

“I will,” she nodded. 


	6. Climbing Trees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More team shenanigans! And angst....

The week after seeing Jason it was now a full moon, which meant for a camping trip. Things had been a bit off since the discussion on how Clara felt compelled to do what Amy said, but they tried to push past it the best they could, a distraction would help. Matt was there surprisingly early with food and camping gear, talking their ears off about how he met the ‘jackass on the road’, which could only mean his friendly driver rival J Harkness. He apparently hadn’t been given a first name, but Amy reckoned he just didn’t want to say it, all Clara could do was agree despite not understanding why.

Shortly after Matt appeared Martha arrived with her stuff in the car, claiming she was driving this time. It led to a bit of a debate between them on who was driving who, that thankfully ended quickly due to Amy saying Martha can drive the others and Matt can drive Clara and herself.

“That alright Clara?”

“I don’t mind,” she shrugged. “It makes sense really, seeing as our things are originally Matt’s.”

“True,” Matt grinned at her. “Oh! Thanks for the text to remind me the food by the way, I almost forgot it.”

“Well, Amy reminded me so,” she pointed at the human. “Thank her or I’d have to go hunting.”

They all laughed at her little joke, the small tension from before vanishing in an instant. Speaking of texts, Martha got one from Rory, stating he couldn’t make it because of work, and Matt got one from Rose that she couldn’t either.

“So just Mels then,” Amy sighed, tapping her fingers on the table. “Wonder why she’s... Actually no, I don’t, she’s always late.”

“She wasn’t when we went to town,” Clara asked, head tilted to the side slightly.

“Well, we were quite late, so she probably was,” she shrugged. “Or maybe Rose got her on time?”

They all sat at the table in silence while they were waiting around for Mels, not really knowing what to say after that. Clara just tapped her foot and fumbled with her hands, the reflection of her golden eyes appearing in the window. She quickly checked her hoodie pocket, sighing slightly in relief when she found the glasses in there. Before anyone could ask Martha chimed in with a question of her own.

“Clara, have you thought about getting a job?” she leaned over on the table, which earned a swift elbow to the side from Amy. “Ow, hey-”

“Would I be able to?” the brunette in question tilted her head. It was clear that she wanted one to pay Amy back for all she got from her, but she was also nervous about the idea.

“Can’t see why not,” Matt shrugged. “Although, I guess you’re concerned about the whole werewolf secret somehow getting out if you snap at someone or make any canine noise. Or full moon days where your eyes are gold.”

Clara merely nodded at his reasoning to her being worried about getting a job. It made sense and was true after all.

“There’s also your lack of experience, so you’d have to do small student jobs or volunteering to get that,” he carried on when he realised nobody was going to stop him, even when Mels walked into the room. She didn’t even have the chance to speak, and just sat down on a chair. “And you probably wouldn’t be able to use your full name because of your and your parent’s death...”

He trailed off when he saw the confused look on Clara’s face and an  array of ‘you shouldn’t have said that’ expressions from everyone else.

“Sorry-”

“I’m,” Clara started, unsure of how to voice her thoughts. “I’m supposed to be dead?”

“Oh,” Matt’s face dropped, now realising why he should not have brought it up. “Sorry, thought you knew. Thought Amy told you.”

“Why am I supposed to be dead?” she turned to her friend.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you,” she quickly apologised as she turned to her. “I didn’t realise it until a few months ago but with everything going on it must have slipped my mind.”

“But... Why-”

“Maybe explaining would be good,” Martha interrupted, turning to face her. “Clara, when you er, got turned and taken to the pack your parents were left, so after maybe a few months they were found and since you were missing it was on the news. We remembered it but couldn’t place your name. Even when you came in to the hospital the first time it sounded familiar but I didn’t think much of it, and luckily nobody else has.”

“So... I-I'm supposed to be like my parents?”

“Presumed so, yes,” Matt nodded solemnly.

An awkward silence fell since nobody knew what to say, they probably wanted her to have a bit of time to process this new information. She shifted in her seat, feeling weird about knowing she was supposed to be dead, yet nobody had told her. Even the police didn’t know. However, they probably thought nothing of it, seeing as her and Amy weren’t suspects in Audrey’s death. Mels said they would know if they were. It was a relief knowing it hadn’t  affected them, and how many times it could have, but knowing how people think, if anyone did catch on to her parent’s death, they would probably think that she had been kidnapped. She was in a way, but she knew  _ nobody _ could know of that.

Unless she wanted a blood bath.

Clara knew she should focus on this new information, but being the  centre of attention for a topic like this made her nervous. It was very clear to her she was supposed to react differently than her usual not doing anything to show she actually cares for this response. Of course, she  cared, it was just hard to show without bursting out crying. She didn’t want to do that in front of everyone right now, especially when they had a camping trip to go to.

“I’d uh, I like English?” she brought up hesitantly, the only way she knew how to get out of an awkward situation; change the subject. Or at least distract her from spiralling. “Is there any work to do with that?”

“Teacher?” Martha suggested, clearly getting the hint.

“Can you really see her as a teacher?” Matt laughed. “The kids will eat her alive.”

For a second Clara looked shocked and a little bit frightened, but once she  realised he was joking, a bit too later for her liking, she looked at him confused. She didn’t have the time to ask how the kids would though.

“Why English?” Mels asked, seemingly caught up on their previous conversation without actually being there for it. “I mean, you’re a werewolf, you could have learnt anything in...  Well, the supernatural genre, why something as boring as English?”

“Uh, well I liked reading when I was younger,” she bashfully admitted. “I think my mum used to read to me a lot. I read Jane Austen in the pack, Vastra got it for me. It was good, and when we could we would sneak off to the library to read, sometimes take books home. Unfortunately, we couldn’t return them-”

“You stole books?”

“Yeah, I guess? Missy caught on though. She didn’t like many human things and when in a bad mood, or just generally wanted to get a rise out of me she’d take them, burn some of them, tear them up... Hit me with them....”

“She’d hit you with books?” Matt asked, astonished.

“Sometimes,” Clara shrugged.

“Is that why we haven’t heard about you reading ‘till now?” Amy asked, looking rather upset at the news.

“A little...”

“You think we’d hit you with books?” Matt looked up at her, seeming a little hurt at the thought. 

“I... I don’t know. I mean, not really, and not you specifically just-”

“Me?” Amy asked quietly, teary eyed.

“Y-Yes,” she sighed, and quickly turned her body to face her. “I’m sorry, I know you wouldn’t, it’s just a fear... Something in the back of my mind.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” she assured her. “I won’t use anything against you. If you like reading, we can get some.”

“Really?” Clara straightened  up; she was pretty sure if she had a tail it would be wagging.

“Yeah,” Amy giggled a little at her  excitement . “I’ll get you some tomorrow, we can go to Waterstones if you want?”

“That’s that big book shop at the top of town yeah?”

“Yup!”

“I’d love to,” she practically pounced on the human as she wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. “Thank you in advance.”

“It’ll be fun,” she grinned as she hugged back.

“Shame to break the moment here,” Matt cleared his throat. “But it’s a bit of a drive to the woods.”

Begrudgingly, Clara pulled back when Amy did. She noticed a small blush on the human’s face as she turned away. Why was she like that? Once again, she didn’t get to  ask.

“So, who’s doing what?” Amy asked quickly, looking around the table.

They all got ready to go after finally deciding that Martha was going to take Mels and Matt was going to take Amy and Clara. The car journey was rather quiet, and thanks to the sickness tablets Martha continued to give Clara, she didn’t get travel sick. She still had Amy in the back with her though, and the window open a bit. Just in case.

Half into the trip Matt noticed Martha’s car in front of them and told them to hold on as he over took, beeping his horn in victory when he successfully.  Apparently, that hadn’t happened in a while. Seeing Martha and Mel in the car going past, Clara counted the seats in the car and wondered why they didn’t just use one car since Rory and Rose weren’t there.

“Why didn’t Martha leave her car at yours?” she asked eventually.

“Last time she left it there it got broken into,” Amy shrugged. “Nothing was taken, just a window broken and mark on her seats, but it was enough for her to swear she’d never leave it outside mine again.”

“Is that why you don’t have a car?” she  paused; a bit wide eyed at realising she had asked that. “So-”

“It’s a good question, you don’t need to apologise,” she giggled slightly as she lightly nudged her with her elbow. “I don’t really drive, and don’t mind walking everywhere so I just don’t own one.”

“You can barely drive,” Matt laughed. “You only got a pass  ‘cause you wore a short skirt and it distracted the guy marking you – which, creepy by the way. He was in his forties.”

“You say that every time,” Amy rolled her eyes at him, chuckling a bit.

She said something else but Clara didn’t pay attention. She got lost in her own head imagining her friend in a short skirt like that, and glanced down at her legs, now only realising she had only ever seen Amy wear jeans. It was rather hard to see her in something short enough to distract a driving instructor, however she knew how creepy some people can be in that aspect. Amy seemed to have been comfortable to do it back then, and for some reason not now. She thought it was a shame that the human didn’t wear things short like that anymore, and how her legs would look in a short skirt.

“Clara?” she faintly heard. “Clara?”

“Huh?” she blushed as she looked up, only now realising she was caught staring at Amy.

“What you thinking so hard about?” the human looked at her, a small smirk on her face. Clara looked at her with wide eyes before she looked away at the hedges outside, not knowing how to answer.

“Probably you in a short skirt,” Matt chuckled, watching them from the rear-view mirror.

“Matt!”

“Wait really?” Amy laughed. Clara winced, now knowing her whine at Matt confirmed it. She blushed and continued to avoid eye contact with her friend. This led to her being nudged softly in the shoulder, getting her attention enough for her to look at the red-head, who merely smiled down at her sweetly. “I’m flattered.”

She blushed furiously and continued to look back out the window for the rest of the trip, not knowing what to say to that. 

Once they got to the woods they ventured to the clearing where they could set up the tents, and placed them all on the side closest to the exit rather than the river. Martha was always worried it would flood. When the set up was done Mels got them to sit in a circle again to do spin the bottle, but this time it was truth or dare. Clara had yet to figure out what the original spin the bottle was if they were playing a newer version of it all the time.

“Truth or dare Matt?” Mels asked when it landed on him.

“Dare!”

“Climb that tree over there,” she pointed to the one behind her. “At least sit on the lowest branch for thirty seconds.”

“Easy,” he huffed out as he scrambled up and walked over to the tree. He jumped up to grab onto the nearest, bigger, branch, only just catching it with her hand, and swung so he could place his feet on the trunk. As he did, he grabbed onto a thinner one. It snapped. He fell onto his back. “Well... That hurt.”

“Easy you say?” Mels laughed, followed by everyone else, except for Clara who stared at him and the tree.

“Like to see you try!” he groaned as he got up. “The branch is big and high up.”

“Let me guess, if that branch didn’t snap you would have made it?” Martha teased.

“Well... Maybe?” he shrugged as he straightened up. “That branch is thicker than it looks – don't.”

They only laughed, nobody bothering to explain to Clara why it was so funny. She didn’t really pay attention  anyway; she kept her eye on the tree.

“I think I can climb it,” she said quietly, almost in a daze.

“Really?” Amy asked louder, getting  everyone's attention.

“Really what?” Martha looked between them.

“Clara reckons she can climb it,” the red-head pointed at her.

“You sure?” Matt asked as he sat down, wincing slightly. “I mean, you’re shorter than me and I had to jump.”

“You were too quick,” Clara said as she stood up and walked over to the tree, examining it. “If you actually looked at it you would have noticed that the branch you grabbed was already broken and too thin to hold your weight. Like you said, the other branch was thicker than you realised, so you would have put all your weight on the smaller one. That was your mistake.”

“You got all that from looking-”

“You also,” she started as she walked away from the tree, taking eight steps back before she ran up to the tree. 

When she got to the tree she jumped, placing one foot on the trunk as she reached out for the higher branch and pushed herself up quickly with her other foot. She grabbed onto  another branch, above the one Matt had snapped, and quickly boosted herself up to successfully cling onto the bigger one. With a swing, she managed to perch herself on the branch, holding onto another one higher than it and keeping one foot pressed against the trunk. 

“Didn’t have a run up.”

Amy cheered, followed by everyone else bar from Matt, who just looked at her in shock. Clara merely swung her leg and looked around the tree, seeing if she could go higher.

“Nah-ah, you’re not climbing more,” Amy appeared below her, starting up.

“How did-”

“I could see the look on your face from here,” she laughed.

“Okay,” Matt appeared. “If it wasn’t a full moon day, would you be able to do that?”

“Probably yeah,” she shrugged.

He pouted as he walked away from them back to the others, “Still blame the werewolf thing.”

Clara couldn’t help but grin at that, and that she actually did it. If she was being honest with herself, there was a bit of doubt of the sitting part. It worked though, so she was happy.

“Need help getting down or?” Amy called up.

“Oh uh,” she looked at the ground and the tree. It had just dawned on her that she was at least ten inches taller than Amy. If she reached up, she could grab her legs but that would only make her fall. “I don’t see how you can?”

“Hmm,” she stepped back, looked between her and the floor. “Jump down and hope I catch you?”

“Or she could just jump down!” Mels called over. “Werewolf after all.”

“That’s true,” she saw Amy blush again as she ducked her head a little before looking back at the brunette. “Or that.”

Before she could think about it, she jumped. She swayed a little bit on the landing and fell into Amy, who caught and steadied her very quickly. “Thanks.”

“Welcome,” she grinned.

“Are we playing or what?”

They both looked over at Mels before they stepped away from each other and headed over. For the next hour they played spin the bottle truth or dare. Most of the time truth was the option, the dares being mild, like walking around barefoot, or anyone trying to climb the tree like Clara had. It wasn’t until Clara’s question that it had to stop. For her at least.

“Clara, truth or dare,” Mels asked.

“Truth this time,” she shrugged.

“Who’s your crush?”

She was taken back by that, but looked at her confused. “Who’s to say I have one-”

“Clara,” Amy interrupted. It made her pause and cautiously turn to her, wondering what she was going to say next. She merely pointed down at the brunette’s hands.

“Oh,” Clara said as she saw herself start to glow gold. She scrambled up and ran over to the tent. Once she stripped it took a second for her to turn, and she hopped out.

“Well, that’s just cheating,” Matt crossed his arms and pouted as Clara sat by Amy. “Now she can’t answer.”

“She can,” Mels smirked. “She can just walk to whoever the crush is-”

“Who’s to say it’s one of us?” Amy asked as she petted Clara, who surprisingly leaned into it. “Or that she has one. Pretty sure she was getting at not having one.”

“If you say so,” Mels shrugged, but was clearly unconvinced. “Take she’s going to explore?”

“If she wants to yeah, probably has a lot of energy, hey Clara?”

The wolf opened her eyes, hadn’t even noticed she had them closed as she got stroked by Amy, and looked around confused. When she didn’t do anything to indicate that she understood, Martha filled her in.

“Are you wondering off now?”

She turned back to the woods as she stood up, wondering if she should or not. It wasn’t until she saw Amy nod towards the trees that she knew she had the all clear to ditch them. Well, it wasn’t like she was ditching them, she knew she would be coming back, and could just before they sleep if she wanted. If they wanted.

As she was lost in her train of thought, she noticed a squirrel and her canine instincts took over as she barked and rushed over to chase it. Unfortunately, it ran up a tree. She heard laughter from the humans, and when it was  obvious she wouldn’t be able to chase the rodent anymore, she returned back.

“Wonder what it’s like,” Amy muttered, yet loud enough for everyone to hear. “Being like that I mean. You still have wolf instincts and stuff, but can clearly understand and do actions for humans to understand. Unlike dogs who...  Well, they listen but it’s hard to know what they understand.  Y’know ?”

“Maybe she can tell us tomorrow,” Martha said, pointing to the wolf.

Clara’s ear twitched as she sat down next to Amy again, only for her to playfully nudge her. “You can go explore if you want.”

Clara stood back up and brushed her head against Amy’s cheek, their way of hugging since she couldn’t do it properly in wolf form. She felt Amy’s arm around her for a second before she pulled back and encouraged her to go. As she turned to  leave, she licked the human’s cheek, and then ran further into the woods.

Why had she done that?

She sat at the river bank pondering that, looking down at her own reflection. It was tempting to jump in, but she didn’t want the tent to smell of wet dog, or get Amy wet when she returned. She also didn’t know how deep or fast the river was, so she thought it was best to stay put. Still, it was nice. The wind in her fur, the smell of the water, the sound of it. 

She lost track of time there.

It wasn’t until she noticed she could see a little clearer that she realised it was starting to get lighter, and that she would turn soon. Shrugging, she turned around and proceeded over to the path, jumping over a big tree root on the way. She stumbled a little, but got her balance back quickly.

She heard rustling in the bushes, but thought nothing of it. Maybe a bird or another squirrel. It wasn’t until she heard a footstep that she realised she really wasn’t alone. A little too late.

Suddenly, a loop went around her neck and tugged her backwards.

“Gotcha!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously how did I make owning books sad?


	7. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I miscounted! This chapter as the sexual assault in it at the half way mark. It's not really really descriptive but does happen for a bit.  
> So TW/CW: blood, (minor character) death, and somewhat minor sexual assault/non-con kissing/making out basically

Amy felt a nudge at her shoulder. She ignored it, groaning at the interruption, and rolled over. There was another one, and another, and another. They became more urgent. Squinting, she opened her eyes to see two wolves in front of her.

“What the?!” she gasped as she leaped up, startled at seeing them. She noticed one was slightly smaller than the  other and had darker fur. “J-Jenny? Vastra?”

They somewhat nodded and motioned urgently out of the tent. Amy looked around, not seeing anything but the woods outside. Jenny whimpered and headed out, motioning towards the path leading deeper into the woods. It took a few moments for her sleepy mind to catch up.

“Clara’s in trouble?” she asked, receiving a nod and a dash to the woods in return. Worried, she bolted out of the tent and followed the wolves. She didn’t even realise she forgot to put anything on her feet until she stepped on a tree root and into a puddle. It hurt when she stepped on a few stones, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to know what happened to Clara.

Amy heard whimpering and came to a halt when Jenny and Vastra did. She looked to the side to see a farmer looking man with Clara, thankfully still in wolf form, with a pronged choke collar digging into her neck. It looked too small for a canine her size.

“Hey!” she got his attention. “What are you doing with  _ my _ dog?”

He merely looked over her and the other two wolves before tugging at the collar, making the already whimpering Clara yelp. “Those yours too?”

“Yes,” Amy sighed. “Out for a morning walk before work-”

“Like that?”

“Yes, usually there’s nobody here and these being wolf dogs, they need a lot of exercise. What are you doing here anyway?”

“My farm’s just over there,” he pointed to the farm behind the fence. “My sheep and my dog got killed by animals this week-”

“And you thought my dogs were to blame?” she growled. “Let her go!”

“Why?”

Amy noticed the wolves were a slight golden-brown colour, and started to panic. “Okay look, if they did do anything to your animals, she would be fighting back. But no, all she’s doing is trying to get to me. My dogs are very friendly, obedient, and well fed. I know for a fact that Clara will follow my orders.”

“Give me a demonstration and I might let her go,” he shrugged. “Your ‘very friendly’ dogs did growl at me.”

“Of course they would, you’ve got one of them-”

“I’ll take her to mine-”

“No, you won’t,” Amy raised her voice. “Y’know, usually when people mistakenly collar someone else’s pet, they apologise and let them go.”

“Speaking of collars, why don’t they have any?”

“Like I said, they’re obedient,” she shrugged, and the sighed and knelt down. “Clara, sit.”

She did without a moment's hesitation.

“That doesn’t pro-”

“Vastra, Jenny, go that way,” Amy pointed to the opposite direction they came from. They sprinted off, their fur going lighter.

“Doe-”

“Clara, raise your right paw,” the red-head lifted her right hand slightly so it wouldn’t be suspicious if she did it. Luckily, she did.

“Fine, I guess it’s not your dogs,” the guy sighed and unhooked Clara begrudgingly. She wagged her tail and immediately ran to Amy.

“Follow Vastra and Jenny,” she whispered to her as she hugged her. Realising the gold colour slowly becoming more prominent, the canine rushed off in the same direction as her friends.

“Sorry, I’m just on edge,” the guy rubbed the back of his neck, and turned to go to the fence. “If I see them again, I’ll leave them alone.”

“You better,” she scowled before running off, seeing the three once wolves as humans standing on the path, hugging each other. She bolted towards Clara, once again ignoring the pain in her feet. “Clara!”

She stumbled as Amy crashed into her, but kept her balance. She buried her head into the taller girl’s neck as she hugged back, tears in her eyes. “T-Thank you...”

“How did you,” Amy pulled back, only now noticed marks on her skin. “Wait, let me check your neck-”

She was cut off by a piercing scream and a thud. They all turned to see the farmer on the floor, blood by his head. Before they could even process what could have happened, Missy jumped from the bushes and glanced down at the farmer, looking amused at her work. She had what could only be thought of as blood on her purple blouse and dirt on her black trousers. She noticed them, and frowned. She growled and sprinted towards them, shortly followed by John walking tiredly behind her in black tartan trousers and a graphic tee, a small muddy back pack slung over one shoulder. Stunned, Amy stumbled back when she realised Missy was heading straight for her, but didn’t get back in time. Missy managed to grab her by the throat and lift her up.

“You almost got us caught,” she snarled, ignoring Amy’s strangled coughs, legs flailing about, and hands clawing at her arm. “I bet your camp mates know – oh yeah, I know about them. You should be thankful I haven’t killed them already.”

She shoved the human to the ground, making her stumble and fall down, coughing as she got her breath back. Clara rushed to her side, helping her lean upwards gently. 

“They know, don’t they?” Missy growled, eyes glowing gold. “Don’t even try lying to me!”

“Y-Yes,” Amy rasped out, avoiding eye contact. Suddenly, she felt pain in her left leg. Glancing up, she saw the woman had her foot pressed into her shin.

“Why did you tell them?”

“I-I didn’t-”

“Bulls-”

“She didn’t!” Clara growled as she stood up, her own eyes glowing gold. “They found out alright?”

Amy yelped as Missy applied more pressure. “Yeah,” she scoffed, “like I believe that!”

“I-It’s true!” the human stammered, holding onto her leg as she tried to move it from under her. She winced at the movement.

“Missy,” John leaned over her shoulder. “They’re telling the truth. It’s not her fault if her friends caught them. Clearly nothing has happened-”

She groaned and stepped off Amy’s leg. “I suppose we better meet them.”

“W-What?” Amy snapped her head up to her. She got helped up by Clara, lightly leaning on her leg to test out how injured it was. It hurt when she put her full weight on it, but not enough for it to be broken. “Why?”

“Check them out,” she shrugged, crossing her arms. “See if they’re worth killing-”

“Like that farmer?” Vastra chimed in. “He didn’t see anything; you didn’t have to kill him.”

“He almost caught Clara,” she growled. “And you two because of that. Because they’re here it’s Amy’s fault that our secret almost out.”

“How is it-”

“Do you want your leg broken?”

Amy snapped her mouth shut, gripping onto Clara’s arm as she shifted on the spot, trying not to put too much pressure on her bad leg. It was probably best not to argue back with Missy. She noticed Clara glaring at her ex-alpha, but there was still a hint of fear in her eyes, whether that was still from being collared and almost caught by a farmer or Missy was unknown. 

“Vastra, go to the pack and tell them we’ll be back in a bit, Jenny you’re coming with us.”

“Really?” she asked, seeming apprehensive at the statement.

“Yes,” Missy glared. “So, Vastra you go off, and Amy, Clara, show the way to your friends.”

Vastra looked uneasy at the thought, but kissed Jenny on the cheek and sprinted off anyway. Amy glanced at Jenny before being tugged toward by Missy by her arm.

“Off we go then.”

Missy pushed Amy forward, making her take the lead. If it wasn’t for her bad leg, bare feet, Clara, and the fact that she’s the only human among the small group, she’d run to her friends and tell them to leave, but she knew the moment she ran she’d get knocked down. Feeling anxious, she trudged forward, holding onto Clara all the way.

Once they got there everyone was taking the tents down, and it wasn’t until Martha said her name that the others  realised they were there.

“Ah, you’re here,” Matt laughed as he rolled his fleece up, not yet aware that she wasn’t alone. “Thought you had been taken during the ni...”

He turned around, trailing off once he saw they had company, and no doubt recognised his step-brother, John, standing next to Missy. He looked guilty, whereas Matt looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Ah, Matty boy,” Missy grinned as she skipped over and ruffled his hair. “Nice to see you again.”

Amy noticed that John had tensed when she got closer to Matt, but didn’t do anything but follow. Jenny stayed with her and Clara, clearly unsure of what to do, and for once seemed uncomfortable at not wearing anything around someone. Amy saw that Martha was by her tent, a bit away from Missy, and decided to bring Jenny over.

“Come with me,” she whispered as she limped over, something everyone noticed. When she got to Martha, she could see the concern on her face, at all three of them. “Can you look after them?”

“Sure,” she said as she got a blanket and put it over Jenny cautiously, seeing as she flinched when she stepped up to her. She then smiled awkwardly at her before getting Clara’s clothes, stopping when she noticed the marks on her neck and scratch on her nose. “What happened? And why are you limping?”

“I’ll explain later-”

“What is there to explain?” Missy interrupted as she  waltzed over, leaving Matt and John to stand awkwardly by each other. “A farmer thought Clara was the one killing his animals, she almost got caught and revealed as a werewolf-”

“Let me guess, it’s all my fault because that,” she paused. “Wait, how did you... You were there the whole time?”

“Yes, why else did-”

“Why didn’t you do anything?” Amy raised her voice.

“Like we co-”

“You sure could when he wasn’t a threat!”

“Ooh, the tempter on you,” Missy tutted, smirking at her. “You’re secretly glad we killed him, aren’t yo-”

“You could have done something to help her,” Amy reiterated as if she was talking to a child. “At least Vastra and Jenny got me!”

“Only  ‘cause they’re stupid eno-”

“To figure out that I’m with Clara and not attack anyone-”

“Suppose,” she shrugged.

Amy threw her hands in the air, angry at Missy’s reasoning to not helping Clara. She limped away from them, not wanting to be near the brunette any longer. “Whatever, just... It’s not like I can change anything you and your stupid fucked up morals make you... You blame me when you’re just as much to bl-”

“You’re rather hot when you’re angry,” Missy smirked as she followed. Amy paused, stunned at her lack of  compassion , and shook her head, going to walk away, but stopped when she spoke again. “Even hotter when you’re submissive.”

“What-”

Before she could finish her sentence, Missy stepped up to her, grabbed her by the jaw, and kissed her. She froze, eyes wide as she stared at the brunette. Still tense, she snapped out of her shock and pushed her back. 

“Well would you look at that,” Missy smirked, looking over the red-head. She stepped forward, making the human stumble back. “Knew it. John, come here.”

“What do you know?” he groaned as he stood next to her, clearly not wanting to leave Matt’s side. She leaned up and whispered in his ear. He stood straight and glanced at Amy before turning to his alpha. “You sure? In front of-”

“Did you not hear what I ordered you to?”

“Yes,” John sighed, squinting his face before he walked towards the human. “I apologise in advance.”

Confused, Amy stepped back. “W-What did she-”

John interrupted her with a kiss. He pulled her closer, one hand on her waist and one on the back of her head, gripping onto her hair. She tried to pull back, but his grip was too tight. 

“Clara  stay ,” Missy ordered. From the corner of her eye, she saw Clara wince and stay put.

Unfortunately, John continued to kiss Amy and push her to the ground. Luckily, he managed to not to give her a concussion but it didn’t make the situation any nicer. She tried not to panic but her breathing quickened as he kissed deeper and placed his hand on her waist. At this point she was openly weeping and shakily trying to get him to budge, but he was too strong. Her friends tried to intervene.

“Clara come over here,” the alpha changed her mind, beckoning her over. She did, guilt written all over her face. The guilt got replaced with fear when Missy whispered in her ear.

Clara rushed to the side of Amy and John and growled at Martha and Mels, her eyes shown gold. They were as stunned as anybody else. Amy tried desperately to breathe and get John away from her. 

It was no use. 

She couldn’t focus on anything else around her, just where John’s lips and hands were. One of them sliding under her shirt, the other a tight grip in her hair. Until, suddenly, they were off.

“John, you can stop now,” she heard Missy say. He immediately stopped and backed away from the red-head, who had a hard time calming down before she realised what had happened. What had been happening. She still heard Clara growl and snarl at Martha.

“Missy,” John growled.

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “Clara, you can stop too.”

Immediately Clara whimpered and fell the ground as she turned around to Amy, unsure of what to do but clearly wanting to do something. Amy however, leaned up, still shaking and crying and trying to control her breathing. She jumped when Martha knelt down by her and touched her shoulder.

“Just checking for injuries,” she assured her.

“Well, that was something,” Missy laughed. “I guess they aren’t a threat after all, we can go. Except for you Jenny, you stay here, maybe explain some things yeah?”

“R-Really?”

“I’m sure these  humans aren’t all that bad, right Matt?”

“We’re good,” he assured the brunette, not daring to even look at the alpha.

“Surely you can take her to Amy’s no?” Missy feigned innocence, despite knowing that what she was saying wasn’t going to be argued against. “She likes taking in strays.”

“Missy,” John warned, stepping away from the area. “Vastra can pick her up yeah?”

“Sure, sure,” she agreed as she followed him. “She already knows where it is right?”

Amy glanced at Jenny, who looked almost guilty. Was this Missy’s way of punishing them for giving Amy Clara’s things all that time ago? Before she could ponder on that she felt Martha’s hand on her leg and hissed, being brought back into reality.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, just checking it,” Martha assured gently, prodding it to see a reaction. She winced again. “Not broken, just bruised.”

Amy looked up at Clara, who just sat at her side, clearly unsure of what she can do to help. Before she could talk however, the brunette winced and bolted off to where John and Missy had headed off to.

“Clara!” she called out, attempting to get up but Martha kept her down. “Mart-”

“I’m not done  checking; you could have any-”

“She’ll be okay Amy,” Jenny assured, standing a bit closer to her but keeping her distance. “Missy probably got her to do something so she’s finding her to get her to reverse it.”

“She won’t be if Missy’s there-”

“Amy, you’re not going anywhere,” Martha told sternly.

“But I-”

“Amy, no,” her voice faltered, and Amy could see tears in her eyes. “You don’t know Missy like Clara, none of us do. It’s probably safer for  _ both _ of you if you stay here.”

“Martha,” she could only utter in response. She knew Martha was worried for her but hadn’t seen her this scared for her wellbeing around someone before.

“This control thing,” Mels started, standing next to Jenny with her arms crossed. “How does it work?”

“Um, well,” Jenny shifted. “It’s this thing that Missy can do to Clara and John-”

“Why not you?” Matt interrupted as he walked over, shrugging his jacket off. “Want this?”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” she smiled sheepishly as she awkwardly put it on and wrapped the blanket around her waist as a make-shift skirt. “Vastra turned me, not Missy, so, while she can order me, I still do have some sort of choice whether to obey her or not.”

“What’s so special about Missy?” Mels asked.

“She’s from a strong alpha bloodline, that’s all I know. And that they can’t resist it.”

“But Clara did,” Amy pointed out. “She ran away rather than-”

“Well, they can stall it, but not for long,” Jenny explained. “From what I’ve been told it hurts if they don’t follow it, and whatever Missy says to them when she’s using this... Ability, for a lack of a better word, can be uh, used at any time. She could tell Clara to do something, and then to forget about it until the situation happens and she will.”

“So, like now she told her to forget about... Whatever she said, until they left?” Matt questioned.

“I suppose she could have worded it like that, yeah.”

“What did she say that was bad enough for her to run away?” Amy pondered  out loud , clearly worried.

“Ask her when she comes back?” Matt suggested.

“I gue-”

Clara walked towards Amy, not looking at anyone but the floor, slightly dishevelled. She knelt down in front of her friend, and it was clear she had been crying. What had Missy done?

“Clara?” she asked hesitantly.

“There’s blood,” Jenny stated worriedly as she sniffed, slowly edging closer to the brunette. 

Amy looked over Clara, moving slightly to see blood dripping from her wrist to the dirt. “Cla-”

“Please.”

They paused. Her voice sounded so weak, so tiny, so scared.  So broken. Amy scrambled over to her, ignoring the pain in her leg and went to place her hand on her head, but she flinched. She usually liked it when the human petted her. Amy slowly pulled her hand away.

“What did she do to you?” she tried to control her anger at Missy, knowing she must have done something to her hair for her to flinch.

“Please,” Clara begged, hands clenched at her sides, not daring to look up.

“Please what Clara?”

“Please forgive me.”

“Um, it’s better to forgive her,” Jenny pointed out. “Rather than ask why.”

“Yeah,” Amy sighed before turning to her friend. “Clara? Can you look at me?”

She winced but did so anyway, looking guilty and scared. “Please.”

“I forgive you Clara,” Amy looked her in the eyes, making sure she knew she did forgive her. “I truly forgive you.”

Clara visibly relaxed and let out a breath nobody had been aware she was even holding. “T-Thank you.”

“Are you...?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I... I can speak freely now.”

“Good,” she smiled at her. “Uh, can you show me your wrist?”

“Or me,” Martha interrupted.

Clara looked uneasy at the prospect, but nodded and did so anyway. She winced when she rolled up her sleeve to reveal a ‘M’ scratched into her forearm.

“Oh god,” Amy uttered, whereas Martha shot right up and headed for the first aid kit by her tent. “When... Why did she?”

“To remind me who I belong to...”

“You’re exiled, you... You never belonged to her anyway,” Matt said, clearly annoyed at the reasoning.

Martha knelt down and got bandages and antiseptic cream out. “This... This is going to sting, okay?”

Clara flinched when she put it on and wrapped her arm in the bandage, it wasn’t until a few seconds later she yelped and dug at the dirt with her other hand. “T-That does more than sting...”

“It’s fresh so...”

“T-Thank you though,” she looked up at her with a small smile.

“What did she get you to do?” Amy asked.

“I uh, I don’t remember,” Clara admitted. “She told me to forget about the... The reason I chased after them, and then to beg you for forgiveness until I got it – oh, and that we have to take Jenny home, she’ll get Vastra to pick her up later. It uh...”

Clara brushed her hair behind her ear, flinching slightly at her own hand. It made Amy understand in an instance. “It wasn’t a suggestion.”

“Well, I don’t mind having to drive one more,” Matt said, trying his best to sound cheery. “Wait, you don’t get travel  sick, do you?”

“Uh, no, I don’t,” Jenny looked rather confused at the question.

“That’s good, it’s just that someone,” he gestured to Clara. “Didn’t tell us until she was throwing up.”

“To be fair, she didn’t know,” Amy defended as she tried to stand up, but wobbled and Clara shot up to keep her steady. “I hope you don’t mind coming back to mine Jenny.”

“It’s not like I have a choice,” she shrugged. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like-”

“You’re nervous about humans, right?” Mels guessed.

“Yeah,” she agreed sheepishly.

“We’re cool about-”

“Matt, you are not questioning her,” Clara said, knowing where his next thought process was going.

“I was... Okay yeah, that did come to mind...”

“I don’t mind answering questions,” Jenny looked between them. “Or is it stuff about you?”

“You hiding stuff from us Clara?” Mels asked somewhat jokingly, or at least from what Amy could figure out.

“No, I jus-”

“I’m only  messin ’,” she grinned.

Clara visibly relaxed as she held onto Amy, who shook her head at her friend. “We should probably get going, don’t want anyone catching a cold.”

Everyone glanced at Jenny before nodding and got to work getting everything packed. Martha told them to wait in the car since Matt only had some of their tent to take down, and Amy needed to rest her leg. It took a bit of convincing, but they did it.

On the way home nobody really knew what to say, Amy staring out the window for most of the ride, not speaking much, whereas Matt would sometimes ask Jenny about John. It would fall silent after each question, and just made Amy think about what had happened. That it had happened in front of everyone. That she had that reaction to it. That Missy  _ knew _ why just by kissing her. Just by talking to her. Martha had been upset, had she figured it out? Or did she just hate that John did that and that Clara had stopped them from helping?

Whichever way, she didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to remember.

Unfortunately, that’s all she did.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
